Sierra Nevada Hoptimum Imperial IPA | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

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Notes / Commercial Description:
A group of hop-heads and publicans challenged our Beer Camp brewers to push the extremes of whole-cone hop brewing. The result is this: a 100 IBU, whole-cone hurricane of flavor. Simply put —Hoptimum: the biggest whole-cone IPA we have ever produced. Aggressively hopped, dry-hopped, AND torpedoed with our exclusive new hop varieties for ultra-intense flavors and aromas.

Resinous "new-school" and exclusive hop varieties carry the bold and aromatic nose. The flavor follows the aroma with layers of aggressive hoppiness, featuring notes of grapefruit rind, rose, lilac, cedar, and tropical fruit—all culminating in a dry and lasting finish.

Our Brewers selected the finest, most flavorful hops, pushed them beyond their limits and forged them into this all-new triple IPA. This reimagined Hoptimum is our hoppiest beer yet, providing a blend of tropical and citrus hop aroma that delivers a refined yet aggressive character.

Sierra Nevada's Hoptimum pours a beautiful bright orange color that is crystal clear. It looks very similar to Nugget Nectar if my memory serves me right. The head on it dissipated very quickly which is expected from a beer with 10% abv. The clarity in the beer leads me to believe that it is not bottle conditioned.

On the nose, it's like smelling a bowl full of citrus fruit. There is grapefruit, orange and also some tropical fruits like pineapple. Additionally, I'm getting some of the typical west coast pineyness but the mainstay from the nose is certainly citrus and tropical fruits. The bitterness and alcohol are hardly detected.

The initial taste is what you'd expect - a bitter, hop bomb. That being said, the bitterness is balanced with the fruitiness on the front of the tongue. Resinous alpha acids are right there and very thirst quenching. There is some alcohol detected in the taste but there is not burn whatsoever. I have had this beer once before and thought it was far too bitter, even in the context of other IIPA's, but I am pleasantly surprised this time around. Maybe my palette had an off night. In the middle of the mouth there is some malt sweetness and fruitiness from the hops. The finish is a lingering hop bitterness and piney presence that sticks in your mouth after the swallow. Absolutely no alcohol is detected as it goes down, which is great for a %10+ abv beer.

Hoptimum has a wonderful mouthfeel, and it is difficult to separate the liquid from the carbonation. A very smooth and silky feeling as it moves across the palette. The body is medium to full, likely as a result of the alcohol percentage and heavy malt additions.

I was pleasantly surprised by this beer. A few weeks ago when I first tasted it, the extreme hop bitterness was unpleasant to my taste, even as an IPA/IIPA fan. I had it side by side with Founders Double Trouble and preferred it to this. This evening I was craving a big, hoppy monster of a beer and this hit the spot entirely. For $10.99 a 4-pack, I'm definitely going to pick up a full one to satisfy my hop craving.